The new St. Croix River bridge is set to open in the fall of 2016. The river bridge will create a look in Stillwater like never before.  There will no longer be a drivable bridge directly connected to downtown Stillwater and highway 36 will have a completely different look to it as far back as Osgood Ave.

The new bridge will be four lanes wide and will have new roadways approaching from both sides connecting Oak Park Heights, MN and St. Joseph, WI. There will be five steel casings made from re-bar and concrete that will be placed into the bedrock of the river.  The current lift bridge will be converted into a five mile bike loop after the construction of the new river bridge is complete.

Over 50,000 dump trucks full of dirt have been moved into the Minnesota approach to the river bridge. That is equivalent to over 700,000 cubic yards of dirt, it is estimated that over 1.3 million cubic yards of dirt will eventually be moved into the construction site which is equivalent to filling half of the metrodome.

The new Stillwater crossing bridge will be an extradosed bridge which means it will be a hybrid between a concrete box girder structure and a cable stay structure.  These two structures were collaborated into one bridge design because of their environmentally safe factors. An unnamed spokesperson for the St. Croix crossing bridge project said, “The uniqueness of the design that helps minimize environmental impacts is the combination of a box girder structure and a cable stay.”

With the combination of the two structures the environmental impact on the river valley will be minimal.  The hybrid design will minimize the amount of piers needed, which in turn minimizes the impact on the river.  The spokesperson for the project added, “Were going to work very hard to minimize the environmental impacts associated with this project during construction and long term.”

The bridge style chosen for the St. Croix crossing river bridge can only be viewed in five other countries including Canada, Latvia, Japan, Bolivia and Poland; however, the box girder structure and cable stay structure can be seen just about anywhere in the world.

The new river bridge will be esthetically appealing while keeping the focal point of the St. Croix area on the river valley.  The river bridge will provide a safer, more reliable river crossing that will improve traffic safety and will minimize environmental impacts on the St. Croix River valley.